Producers which are in the VinNatur association aim for quality and territory. This was discussed in the three days of workshops in Lonigo (VI) involving 15 journalists, 11 foreigners from different parts of the world and 4 Italians, called to blindly evaluate 216 bottles of wine produced from the members of VinNatur.
A guarantee and quality for natural wine worldwide. This is the ambitious goal set by VinNatur today, thanks to tools such as the production regulations and the related control plan. Tasting batteries alternated moments of in-depth analysis and discussion with the intervention of oenologists, biologists and representatives of the Association.
Photo: Barbara Repovš
The result of this comparison was very clear: the naturalness of the wines is now a fact and implicit fact; we are working to obtain top-quality productions that best represent the territory of origin. "This workshop was an important moment of growth - says Angiolino Maule, president of the Association - We at VinNatur wanted to understand if we are going in the right direction or wrong. In these years we have always been used to making our wines and tasting them among of us, thinking that they were the best in the world. The time had come to open up to the outside world, to question ourselves, with a tasting without preconceptions, also dedicated to those who until recently observed us at a distance ".
Each of the wines proposed blindly has been tasted by the participants and each has been assigned a technical judgment and an overall assessment that will then be sent to each individual producer; from this emerged 17 wines, which particularly impressed the judges for balance and elegance: 5 reds, 5 whites, 5 sparkling wines or bubbles and two out of category.
Photo: Barbara Repovš
"Myself - continues Maule - was convinced to make wines over the top, but I realized that I often make myself influenced by my taste. This comparison certainly gave me incentives to improve my work. He also encourages all our members to join in. Having learned to make healthy wines, we must now learn to make them better ".
Future goals – The soil above all
The goal that VinNatur set itself two years ago, proposing to the agricultural companies members to participate in the three-year project "FERTILITÀ BIOLOGICA DEI TERRE" (Biological fertility of the soils) totally self-financed. The group of 13 wineries participating in the initiative has embarked on a path aimed at the study of the vitality of the land, considered as the fruit of the relationships between soil, plants and microorganisms, under the guidance of the Agronomist Stefano Zaninotti (Vitenova), who works in team with a biologist, an entomologist and a botanist.
"The decision to face this project, challenging both in terms of energy and costs for our association, was determined by the belief that it is not possible to practice a healthy and sustainable viticulture, to the environment and for man, without respect for the earth. The earth, the soil, comes first of all! Moreover, VinNatur has always been a goal that seeks to pursue using different tools such as scientific projects and experiments, the organization of annual shows and round tables and meetings with experts and scientists: spreading culture among our associated producers and among the lovers of natural wines, because the first ones produce and the second ones consume with awareness" says Angiolino Maule.
Photo: Barbara Repovš
“After the first year of the project has been concluded - expalins Stefano Zaninotti - allowed us to investigate initially to discover that many soils are already in a good state of equilibrium while others have problems of poor or excessive respiration, others still have a discontinuous microbiological activity. or altered by incorrect agricultural practices. Starting from next year, thanks to the information learned and improvements implemented accordingly, we will be able to disclose the first data, which will mainly benefit the member companies but will certainly constitute a common heritage for all the members ".
Stefano Zaninotti works as an agronomist .The aim is to study the potential "terroir/soil" of a vineyard and the biodiversity influences on the defense against pathogens (fungus and insects). His belief is that the management of the vineyard to "very low impact" steps for the awareness of what is in the vineyard, especially of what we have always deliberately or not ignored.
And he continues –“Through the work we are doing in collaboration with Vitenova we aim to improve the relationship between man and the land, so that wines become full expression of the terroir to which they belong, with more balanced vines, which do not require treatment, to preserve the vineyard environment in an increasingly natural way. In the cellar we have learned to make wines without flaws without adding anything but a bottle and a stopper. We do not have this knowledge yet in the vineyard. Our goal is to get to have a land so alive that the plant will defend itself ".
Photo: Barbara Repovš
